


Wilde Institute

by wendeetestaburger



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Military, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2018-01-01 11:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendeetestaburger/pseuds/wendeetestaburger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A military school AU where Jade is new to the school and instantly clicks with Karkat and Dave. Title is temporary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dave

Fuck.

There was that awful sound again. I'd been here for almost a year now and I'm still not used to it. I hate having to wake up at 6AM for drills.

I've been at the Wilde Institute--don't let the name fool you, it's a military school--for one year in two weeks and I don't hate it any less than I did back then. Sure, I made friends, and I learned my way around the facility, but I hated it. With every fiber of my being.

Sergeant Jack Noir was our drill sergeant, a seasoned veteran who had fought in many wars. He was a no-nonsense guy, which basically meant he was a dick of epic proportions. He has made people cry on more than one occasion. Ugh. Not getting into his assholeishness this early in the morning. 

My clock read 6:05. They gave us five minutes for us to wake up. We were expected to be lined up in front of the mess hall at 6:15, which gave us just enough time to get dressed and brush our teeth. The girls usually got up earlier and did their hair as best they could with what they had.

Sergeant Jack-off wouldn't let us keep a lot of material things in the barracks with us, like hair appliances, hair products, and makeup. The girls usually looked like shit most of the time, so it was rather obvious.

I rolled out of bed and onto the floor, exhausted as usual. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and ran to the bathroom, desperate to get a sink to brush my teeth. As I got there, the last sink became occupied as Sollux Captor grabbed it to put contacts into two different colored eyes. 

Eyes were a weird thing at school. Everyone had unique eyes. Mine were weird too. I would even go far enough to say that they were the weirdest.

I ran for the sink all the way on the end, next to the urinals, as Karkat finished up and went to take a piss. I grabbed my toothbrush and paste out of the holders next to the sinks and started brushing.   
"Morning, dude."

I turned my head to the side, looking at Karkat. It was our morning routine to greet each other. We weren't really friends; it was kind of just a thing, whether it was at the sinks, the urinals, or the barracks.

"Morning," I said, mouth full of toothpaste.

That was it.

He finished pissing and left. I spat out my toothpaste and rinsed, then ran my fingers through my hair, fighting bed head.

I headed out to lineup a few minutes early, catching up with John, my best friend.

"Hey dude. Morning." I yawned.

"You excited?" He seemed more awake than usual. 

"...For what? Is there some kind of USO show today?"

"No, man, I wish. That'd be sick. But my cousin is coming today!"

Shit. That was right. John had told me his cousin was coming to join us at Wilde. He told me over lunch one time, after we had received our mail.

"She's super tough. Or so I've heard; I haven't seen her in like years. My dad wrote me a letter saying she's coming."

"Did he say why?"

And I can't remember what he said after that.

A bunch of the girls were already there. Terezi Pyrope, my best female friend, was standing around talking to a few other girls. Rose, my twin sister, was standing near the side, lacing up her boots, next to Kanaya Maryam, her best friend. Karkat and Sollux were already in position, scared shitless of Sergeant Jack before he was even here.

A whistle blew. I spoke too soon. Before I ran into position, I checked my watch. 6:12. That was strange. Jack was never early. He was always right on time.

Because he was early, a few stragglers ran out of the barracks, not expecting the whistle to be blown this early.

"Get your asses here on time, soldiers!!" Jack screamed at them, his eyes almost on fire. Once they were in the proper line up, the sergeant addressed us all.

"Good morning, soldiers."

"Good morning," came the definite reply. 

"I hope you all have rested up, because this morning, we have a new soldier joining us. Please welcome Jade Harley."

You can pinpoint the exact moment that my life changed forever.


	2. Karkat

Shiiiiit.

God I hated that stupid bell that woke us up every day. I couldn't believe I was still going to this shitty "institute," if you could even call it that. This was military school. We all had our dumbass reasons why we went here. They had to torture us for being bad kids in our own way, but they also had to torture us with Sergeant Jackoff Noir. I can't recall a day where I didn't want to strangle the living fuck out of him with the closest object.

I ran to the bathroom to piss like I do every day, desperate to pee after the night like I usually am. God knows why I have to pee every morning. And God knows I could care less.

I began to piss, shaking the black hair out of my eyes. God, it felt like that asshat was waking us up earlier and earlier every day. Or keeping us up later and later. 

I was still half asleep when Dave Strider walked in the bathroom, desperate for a sink to brush his teeth in like usual. This was where we almost always met: the bathroom while I was pissing and he was brushing his teeth. 

"Morning, dude," I greeted him, although it was more of a grunt.

"Morning," he grunted through toothpaste.

I finished up and went back into the barracks to change into my uniform. I ran out and stood in my lineup position, next to Sollux Captor, one of my best friends. We chatted for a few minutes aimlessly. He mentioned something about a new kid coming, but I blew it off. So many rumors about the kids here: coming, going, who's staying forever, whose parents are never picking them up, et cetera. They're never true. 

As soon as Jackoff came out, Sollux and I stood stiff in a salute. He blew the whistle and everyone ran into their lineup positions: Dave was on one side of me, and Sollux on the other. The sergeant yelled at people behind us, who were still apparently rushing in. Assholes. It's not fair that they get to sleep a little later than we do.

"Good morning soldiers," he screamed at us.

"Good morning," we replied, almost robotic.

"I hope you all have rested up, because this morning, we have a new soldier joining us. Please welcome Jade Harley."

Bam. She hit me like a baseball to the face. As soon as she walked out of the office next to the seargent, you could almost feel the atmosphere change. She was a small girl with long black hair and round glasses accompanying the most beautiful pair of green eyes I've ever seen. She also had a huge grin on her face.

"Hi everyone! Great to meet you all!" Her voice was a little high pitched, and she sounded as cheerful as could be. 

If we weren't in lineup, whispers would've rushed through the fifteen of us. But we were still in salute.

Jack seemed less than pleased to hear Jade's greeting to everyone. "Harley, please stand in between Vantas and Strider. Vantas and Strider, please raise your hands so she knows who you are."

We did as we were told, desperately trying to keep our jaws hinged.

Or at least I was.

She smiled at me through her thick round glasses that fit perfectly on her face. I closed my mouth quickly, hoping she didn't see, and did my best to smile back at her. As she shuffled past me, she accidentally bumped my shoulder. All I saw was sparks.


	3. Dave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of myself for updating this, since I suck at keeping up with and finishing things I start. Thank you all for your kind words! I'll keep writing as long as you do ;)

Of course. She was next to me and Karkat. The only other one on the line whose eyes were practically popping out of his head. I had to keep my eyes straight ahead, though, because if I didn’t, Sergeant would yell at me. In fact—

“Vantas!! Eyes on me!”

“Yes, sir, sorry, sir…” he mumbled, biting his lip and looking at Jack. 

I almost snickered. Karkat and I weren’t what you would call friends. Yeah, we do say hi to each other, but we have had some disagreements in the past. We’ve both dated Terezi (at different times, of course), but we have had some kind of rivalry about that. Neither of us are dating her right now, but Karkat was kind of close to it. Rumor has it they’re kind of flirting right now. Whatever. Terezi’s my best girl friend. It’s impossible for things to be awkward between us. 

As soon as lineup was over, we marched to the mess hall for breakfast. Meals were pretty great because they were the only real time we got to socialize during the day. I knew I probably wasn’t going to get a chance to see Jade. She was new, so people would most likely be flocking her.

Or maybe not. As I walked into the mess hall, everyone dispersed to their usual seats and waited to be called to eat. It was obvious the girl didn’t know where to sit, so I sat down and called her over. She grinned widely and marched over, plopping down on the empty stool across from me.

“Hey! It’s… Crap, I’m sorry. I’m awful at remembering things. Remind me of your name?”

I half smiled at her. “It’s Strider. Uh, Dave. Dave Strider.” 

She giggled, but didn’t acknowledge my awkward greeting any other way. “I’m Jade, John’s cousin. I don’t know if he’s talked about me, but he’s literally the only cousin I have who’s not four or forty. He’s really cool, you know? But sometimes, he—“ She stopped, widening her eyes. “Wait! You’re Dave! He talks about you all the time!”

I grinned. “He does?” I had no idea. I knew we were best friends, but I didn’t know how close we were. 

We chatted for the rest of breakfast, which wasn’t a long time, since our meals were only about 20 minutes to a half hour long. A lot of people finished early today, which was weird. No one was eager to do drills all morning. Then I realized I was talking to the reason. Everyone wanted to line up and get a good view of how Jade Harley would perform in her very first obstacle course.

“Hey, where’s everyone going?” She turned around, looking out the door. 

“Oh, yeah, in the morning, we do drills. In the afternoon, we do normal school shit.”

She made a noise. “That sounds awful.”

I chuckled. “It is. Come on, let’s go line up.”

We stood up and dropped our trays on the conveyer belt leading into the kitchen and headed outside. “Looks like we’re the last ones,” she said. I nodded and walked to my place next to her. We were all silent as the Sergeant came out and eyed us one by one. He stepped to the side.

“On your marks…. Get set…. Go!” He shot off the gun, and we hit the ground running.


	4. Karkat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking of scrapping this. I had no real plot when I started, and I can't really think of one now. I'd love to hear your ideas, though. :)

God, she was beautiful. But knowing me, I would fuck things up the first time I talk to her. Or not get the chance to talk to her. Or—

“VANTAS!” I heard screamed in my face. I winced as a reflex. “Eyes on me!”

Shit. I was looking at her? Fuck, I hadn’t stopped. God, what the fuck is wrong with me? I could practically hear my classmates laughing at me. Of course they weren’t, but they might as well have been. 

“Yes, sir…. S-sorry, sir…” I mumbled. Fuck. I’m such an idiot. I mean… she wasn’t even that pretty… was she? Jesus Christ, she hasn’t even said one word to me! How do I know if she’s perfect or something? God, Karkat. Do you hear yourself?

I wanted to slap myself in the face, but I couldn’t. Mostly because she was standing right next to me and would see me, but also because we were in lineup. 

Finally, lineup was over and we made our way to the dining hall. As I turned to start walking, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Jade’s big green eyes staring back at me.

“Hi!” She seemed chipper for 7AM. “Vantas, is it?”

“No, not Vantas. It’s Karkat. The Sergeant just calls us all by our last names. Kind of dumb if you ask me.” God, Karkat, could you sound any more like a dick?!

Luckily, she couldn’t hear my thoughts to agree with me. “Yeah, it kind of is! Wanna walk me to the mess hall?” She grinned. 

I raised my eyebrows to express the intense amount of shock I was feeling. It was really all I could do without making myself look like a complete dumbass in front of her. “Uh… sure.” I really hope I didn’t sound too shocked. And I hoped even more that I didn’t get lost going to the dining hall while leading her there. Not that it would actually happen, but you never know…

“So, Jade, right?” 

She nodded.

“Where you from?”

“Well, I used to live with my grandpa before he died, but now I live in Washington with John!”

I stopped and looked at her. “John? Egbert? Why that dork?”

She giggled. “He’s my cousin.”

Shit. There I go fucking things up again. I had just called her cousin a dork to her face. I knew this would happen. “Oh my god, I’m sorry, I—“

She laughed again. “It’s okay, he is kind of a dork.” 

I almost breathed a sigh of relief. Still good, Vantas. Still good.

I studied her for a moment without even realizing it. God, her eyes were just beautiful. The prettiest shade of green I’d ever seen. And they fit perfectly behind her round, almost Harry-Potter-esque glasses. Her hair shined in the early morning sun. 

“Karkat? You okay?” 

“Wha—?” Shit. I hadn’t said anything _and_ I’d stopped walking. Why am I so stupid?! “Oh, yeah, sorry. I kind of… lost my train of thought.” _In your eyes._

She giggled. “No worries! Hey, is this the mess hall?”

I looked up. Shit, we were already there. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, thanks for walking me here! I’m gonna go find a place to sit, okay? I’ll talk to you later!” She wiggled her fingers at me as she bounded away. 

I groaned and sat down in my usual seat next to Terezi and Sollux.

“Damn, kid. You okay?” Sollux laughed at my sound.

“No. I’m not. God, she’s pretty, okay? That’s okay. But she’s also really really nice. Like, that’s not okay! Pretty girls are supposed to be bitches! Just look at Terezi!”

She laughed. “Thanks, Karkat. Not really sure if that’s a compliment or an insult, but I’ll take it.”

I barely heard her. I was scanning the room for Jade. Fuck. Of course. Sitting with pretty-boy Strider over there. I put my head in my hands and groaned again.

“I can’t believe she’s sitting with him!”

“Who, Jade?” Sollux looked around. “Sitting with— Dave?!”

“Don’t worry, Karkat, I bet it’s because they’re in line together,” Terezi tried to reassure me.

“So?! She’s in line next to me, too, and you don’t see her sitting here, do you?”

We were called for breakfast and stood up to get on line.

“KK, don’t take it personally, okay? She probably likes blonds better. It’s nothing against you.” Sollux snickered.

I wanted to smack him upside the head. “Dude, I’m already feeling insecure enough! Do you have to make it worse?!”

His smile faded a little, but it was still prominent on his face. “As your best friend, yeah, I do.”

We sat down and ate our eggs that resembled pig feed more than they did eggs. 

“Karkat, relax,” Terezi said towards the end of the meal. She noticed I kept glancing Jade’s way as she laughed with Dave. “It’s her first day. She’s probably just trying to get her head on straight.”

I sighed, tearing my eyes away from them. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.” She smiled a little at me. God, she was pretty, too.

“KK, TZ, come on. I want to get in line so we can see the new girl fail miserably at the obstacle course!”

Terezi laughed and finished up her soggy French toast. As Sollux got up and put away his tray, Terezi turned to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you getting enough sleep?”

I sighed. “Yes, Terezi, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

She gave me a look, but didn’t press the subject further. “Okay. Come on, I wanna see her crash and burn.”


End file.
